The Betrayed Dragonborn
by The Eternal Guest
Summary: The Dragonborn has done all that he could, defeated Alduin, slain countless Dragons, but to no avail. Because he cannot save those who do not want to be saved. Previously a one-shot, now becoming a story. Spoilers for main quest line.
1. Chapter 1

Any last words, Dovahkiin?" the priest of the Dragon Cult mocks the last rebel.

"Even though my fight may have been in vain.  
Even though my body even now is wracked with pain.  
I still remain proud of that which I did.  
I stood and fought where others knelt or hid.

Even though I will now finally be slain,  
By a world gone fully insane.  
I remain strong in one way still.  
I am still the master of my will.

Even though I will die at the blade of my once-friend,  
Even though I die at the hands of a world I tried to defend.  
I will not waver, I will not regret.  
With eyes still open will my fate be met.

Even though I regret what led to this fate.  
Even though I wonder if perhaps I tried to fight too late.  
I know that I tried, to do what was right.  
To finally break the Dragon race's might.

But it is not to Dragons that I finally fall.  
It is Man who betrayed man, after all.  
But at least I can still walk with pride,  
Even if it is only to Sovngarde I can stride.

For I saved that world, at the very least.  
In Shor's Halls I will eternally feast,  
Retelling the story of Alduin's death.  
Though Men then bereft me of my final breath.

But it matters not how tragic my fate,  
And tragic it certainly was of late.  
For I am still the master of me.  
And there is nothing else that ever will be." the doomed Dragonborn recites.

"How does it feel, Ralof?" he then asks the priest.  
"How does it feel to be part of the generation that the Divines themselves gave up on?"

"How did you know it was me?" Ralof asks, "And what do you mean, that the Divines gave up on?"

"Of course I recognise you, Ralof. The first person I met in Skyrim. So kind, so gentle. How brave on your way to death you were... But I digress. I tried to save all of you. Even after you started to hunt me. I killed Alduin, I had hoped that you would turn away from the Dragons then." he begins his tale.

"But you all stayed. You all kept hunting me for your new 'Gods'. I killed dozens of Dragons, hoping you'd see your cause was hopeless and leave. But you all stayed.

Talos himself came before me. He spoke to me. He counselled me to abandon all of you. Called you all a lost cause. For Talos' sake, he offered to make me a Divine!

But I stayed. I thought I could save you." he laughs bitterly.

"They took my Voice from me. Hoped it would make me give up. And now... I've given all I had. All my friends are dead or have abandoned me. Abandoned the Divines." he spits. "For POWER."

"Talos was right. I was a fool. If the God of Mankind says mankind is lost... But I couldn't leave you, and see where it got me. But at least Sovngarde is safe. Though I suspect I will be the last to go there for a long time."

Ralof seems taken aback at this. The Dragons were almost the Divines weren't they? Children of Akatosh himself! Wouldn't the Divines want Dragons in charge? "Why would nobody else be welcome in Shor's Halls?"

"Because Tsun the Gateskeeper does not take kindly to traitors. And what Man has done is nothing if not a betrayal of themselves." speaks the last opposition the Dragons have.

"So go ahead. Kill me, obey your masters! At least I die with my mind my own, my soul free to go to Sovngarde and my honour intact! Kill the Hero of Nordic Legend! Bring an end to the evil of all the Dragons' foes!" he laughs, mocking the once-popular stories and songs of the Dragonborn.

"Perhaps one day I'll meet another Dragonborn, should Akatosh decide Man is worth saving! You have doomed yourself to centuries of slavery, for a few years of imagined powers! Now how will the Dragons act when all their foes are gone?" he wonders aloud as his head is chopped off by the executioner. His eyes never leaving Ralof's mask.

His eyes open, even in death.


	2. The Dragonborn Returns

_The Betrayed Dragonborn Returns_

 **I know I said this was going to be a oneshot, but every review I had (there was only one, but statistics don't lie) said this was practically begging for a sequel, so here it is.**

 **Here's for you, Guest!**

It had been decades, possibly even centuries since the Dragonborn had been betrayed. It was hard to keep track of the passing of time in Sovngarde.  
Especially when there were no new people coming and telling them of new battles and glories. Not since him, anyway. All those that may have gone to Sovngarde were instead brought through the Dreamsleave, to forget their mortal lives and be reborn once more, to live yet again under the rule of Dragons.

Sovngarde was no longer the paradise it had once been. While the mead still flowed and the feast still continued, there were no new stories to hear, nor new people to amaze with tales of battles long forgotten. There was little excitement to be had outside of sparring with one another, and that could only be done so often before it became repetitive.

All of this greatly hurt the Dragonborn. For it was this world that anchored him, that made him believe he had not failed entirely. While the living had shunned his aid, he had been able to save this world. To see it diminish so was almost physically painful.

So it was with joy that he saw the return of Tsun. The gatekeeper had departed shortly after welcoming him to the everlasting feast; what use was a gatekeeper after all, when none could find the gates any longer? Vadur had hoped, in that moment, that he would see Sovngarde rise once more to its former glory. For new blood would bring new tales, and new tales would bring new life.

And that made it all the more disappointing when rather than taking up his old position at the bridge once more, Tsun crossed the bridge and walked to the Dragonborn.  
"I would speak to you on behalf of my lord, Dragonborn." he rumbled, before turning and gesturing for him to follow.

He lead the hero to the top of the mountain, allowing him to see once more the glorious view over Shor's realm.  
"Do you know why I am here once more?" the Gatekeeper asked him.  
"I had hoped this would signal the coming presence of more valiant souls, but I suppose that that shall not happen." Vadur said glumly.

"Not directly, no." at this the Dragonborn's head snapped up. "So soon? Yes?" he asked quickly.  
"That depends on you, my friend."  
"I'm afraid I don't understand-"  
"Akatosh has given the sign. Humanity may rise once more, to defeat their Dragon overlords." Tsun said.

"Then how does it depend on me? Unless..."  
"Yes. There is no human with the strength to fight the beasts. While most do not revere them as they did when you passed, they lack the skill to fight them. The worms have learned from their mistakes, and have allowed none to learn the arts of war, neither the blade nor the spell is commonly practiced amongst Mortal now. Akatosh foresaw that only you could save them."

There was no choice to make. He would do all he could to save mankind, even if man did all it could to doom itself. He would go back.

"I'll do it." He said quickly, with no hesistation, "Will I be allowed to have my own weaponry?"  
"Of course. What was yours is still yours, though I'd suggest you take no more than necessary, for it may he hard to carry everything around at all times." Shor's shield-thane advised.

Only the armour and the sword then. It would be ironic to kill the beasts with weapons crafted from their brethren's corpses.

Tsun appeared to be about to say something, before he stops himself, looking very surprised, and leaves without speaking another word. Before Vadur can even register truly that Tsun is gone, another being takes the Gatekeeper's place.  
Vadur recognises him instantly. The Dragonborn had only seen the figure once, but it was not an experience he'd soon forget.

After all, this was the God that took his Voice.

"Talos." he says, bowing his head only slightly. Once he may have been more respectful; in life before the second Dragon Crisis he had revered the Man-become-God greatly, but his opinion had been soured, first by what was, in his eyes, the abandonment of Man, and further by seeing the deterioration of Sovngarde that resulted from that.

"Dragonborn." he replies, with a similar nod. While they may not like each other greatly, both respect the other for their deeds. Talos, after all, united Tamriel under his banner. And Vadur had slain the World-Eater, Miraak and ended the Vampire threat. While Vadur may not be a God, he could have been, and it was only his loyalty to humans that kept him amongst them.

"I am here to inform you that when you arrive once more on Tamriel, your ability to use the Voice shall be restored." Talos continues, before his voice softens to an apologetic tone, "And I shall grant you understanding of the tongue of the Dragons, that you may better use your gift. It is the least I can do."  
"Very well, my lord." Vadur replies coldly. One gift does not forgiveness deserve, in his mind.

"I wish you luck in your quest, hero, that you may restore Sovngarde and Tamriel to glory." and with those words, Talos sends the Dragonborn to Tamriel once more.

* * *

'How fitting' Vadur thinks, 'for me to arrive here, where I once arrived after slaying Alduin.'  
And indeed, he stood once more at the Throat of the World. But where then he was greeted by the roars of Dragons, now nought but bitter cold surrounds him.

"LOK VA KOR!" he Shouts, glorying in the power of the Voice, even in such a simple Shout. The storm is driven away, and he can see the fatherland of Man.  
It is a changed land.  
Once he could see the grand city of Whiterun, Dragonsreach standing tall. The great port of Solitude in the distance and the stone city of Windhelm to the east.  
But no more do the cities of Man stand tall. While the landscape is recognisable; the hills, the lakes, the mountains and plains the same, only small villages stand on them.

In a way, the simplicity is beautiful.  
Yet it also shows how far Man has fallen from grace. From dominating all the land and with the power to reshape it, to living in wooden shacks and, if what Tsun said is true, unable to wield either sword or spell in their defence.  
But now it is time to show the Dragons that their reign is at an end. For while he may have been defeated once, that was when he lacked his Voice, and now, he could speak once more.

"AHBIILOK!" he Shouts, remembering the name from a book so long ago read in Sky Haven Temple. Hunter Blue Sky, the Dragon that went to Morrowind. As far as he knew, that Dragon still lived. He would make an example.

It seems the Dragon was nearby already, for within ten minutes Vadur hears the roar of a Dragon.

"What Mortal dares sully my name with his weak Voice?" he demands in Dovahzul, "Your death shall be painful!"  
"JOOR ZAH FRUUL!" Shouts the Dragonborn, and as once Alduin fell to the crippling power of Dragonrend, so does this lesser Dragon fall before the hero.

"Do you not recognise Mirmulnir?" Vadur asks, his enchanted armour protecting him from the heat of the Dragon's flame, "The first Dragon I killed, and the tools used to kill so many others, including Alduin, your lord. And now, you shall be the next one."

"I smell it now. The Dragonblood, Dovahsos, runs through your veins." the Dragon rumbles, "Why did you Shout my name? Do you desire to fight?"

"The Dragons will fall, Ahbiilok." the Dragonborn says, and continues over the blue Dragon's arguments, "Renounce your claim over Tamriel and return to Akavir or you will be slain. First you, and then the others."  
"You and your kind are weak! Only power can grant truth, and what power is greater than that of the Dov? None. There is nothing more powerful than the Dov on Tamriel."

"Wrong. There was nothing more powerful than the Dragons on Tamriel." Vadur says, "But now," he smirks, "I am back. And it is time for the Dragons to be reminded that while your power may feel infinite, there was a mortal who drove Alduin to Sovngarde, rather than the other way round, and that mortal is here to take you down."

And with those words he strikes. The Dragon is still crippled by the Dragonrend shout, and rather than having to Shout every so often the Dragonborn instead cripples the Dragon's wings.  
"TIID KLO UL!" he Shouts, and the world slows down. He appears to be little more than a blur as he leaps at Ahbiilok's wing, his sword tearing easily through the thin membrane.  
A Dragon's skin is tough, but a Dragon's bone is tougher.

"How long has it been, Worm? How long have I been gone? What year is it?" he demands, stabbing the Dragon in the chest.  
"Two... Two hundred years." he says, in pain, but triumphantly. "Man has been in its rightful place for two hundred years."  
"You are weak." the Dragonborn says, and the Dragon emits a surprised sound at the seeming non-sequitur.

"You may have disarmed Man two hundred years ago, but in that act you disarmed yourself. Once a Drake of your stature would have taken hours of tiring combat to defeat but now... Now it takes minutes. You may think power is the only truth, but the only true power here is MINE!" by the end of his sentence he is almost Shouting, a threatening rumble rising to a roar, the ground shakes around him as he skewers the Dragon's head on his sword.

The Dragon's soul rushes into him, energising him, and where once it granted him knowledge of the Dragon's tongue, now it grants him knowledge of the land, for he speaks the tongue already. He decides first to go to Riverwood, or whatever the settlement there is now named.

 **Author's note : I was planning on making it a two shot, but that would end up as the second chapter being far longer than I'm able to write without any feedback (this was a subtle hint), so I'm just uploading this for now. Hope you enjoyed it!**  
 **Ahbiilok, by the way, is actually a named Dragon, though you can't fight him. He's mentioned in a book in Sky Ruler Temple, though the book only appears when you have finished Season Unending, but not captured Odahving yet.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next one, it's quite short, but I wasn't sure where I'd be able to end it if I didn't end it here. Hope you enjoy it, and please review!**

He draws attention. Of course he does. In a land where weapons and armour not needed for hunting are banned entirely, someone wearing armour of Dragonscale and wielding a blade made of the bone of a same creature isn't going to blend in.  
The town is silent around him.

"Where can I find Dragons." he says, his voice echoing through the quiet.  
"Who are you, to ask us to send you to your death?" says an old man.  
Rather than give his real name, which would undoubtably be recognised by the Dragons at least, he came up with something on the spot.

"Atumun Ah." he names himself, drawing upon his new knowledge of the Dragon tongue. Apex Predator. A fitting name for the man who would remove the Dragons from the top of the food chain.  
"You would not be sending me to my death, for no Dragon could defeat me. Do you not desire to be free of your Draconic overlords? For Man to rule Man, as they did two hundred years ago? I have already slain Ahbiilok, the Blue Dragon, tell me where to find others and they too will fall to my blade!"

Whispers broke out, concerning the Dragon he'd slain. That Dragon in particular had tormented this town, which explained why it had been so close to the mountain.  
The old man steps forwards and speaks once more, "In the mountains, to the west there are ruins of a crypt of some sort. There are two Dragons there, most of the time."

Bleak Falls Barrow. It has to be. 'Strange that I should go from Riverwood to Bleak Falls Barrow, just as I did all those years ago...' muses the Dragonborn, as he heads off.

* * *

The barrow looks almost the same, the only difference being the two Dragons standing guard, rather than the bandits there once were. One Dragon is a rather common one, coloured black, no particular strength to him. He falls quickly. But the other... A familiar red hue makes up his scales, and his voice, too, is vaguely recognisable.

Vadur, who had been healing himself of the few wounds the Dragon had inflicted upon him, suddenly knows what Dragon it is. Not from a book or description, but from his own experience.  
"JOOR ZAH FRUL!" he Shouts, bringing the Dragon to the ground.

"ODAHVIING! Do you not recognise me? Did you not once name me your thuri? Your lord?" Vadur says in the Dragon tongue.  
"Dovahkiin." the winged snow hunter breathes, "You are returned. I should have recognised you, thuri."  
Now leaving his fighting stance, the Dragon lowers his head almost submissively. "Drem Yol Lok" he greets him.

"Drem Yol Lok, Odahviing. Yes, I have returned. The Gods saw fit to release the mortals once more."  
"You speak the tongue, Dovahzul, with great skill." the Dragon remarks, obviously asking how that came to be.  
"A gift. From Talos." the Dragonborn says, hardly disguising his dislike of the Divine.

"But that is irrelevant now. Odahviing, once you carried me to Skuldafn to battle Alduin. Will you now aid me in defeating the rest of the Dragons? I promise you, you will be to me as Naafalilargus was to Tiber Septim; a trusted general, a great soldier, not a mere Dragon." Vadur says, trying to persuade Odahviing.  
"Hmmm. The other Dov, they will not like this. But their Thu'um is not yours, their strength is not yours. I will follow you, thuri, for you will win!"

The Dragonborn grins at the thought of fighting once more with Odahviing at his side. The only question is who else he would have at his side. He knows it would be useful to have other fighters, other warriors with him, but those are probably few and far between now, after so many years of tyranny. Add to that the fact that it was humans that betrayed him in the first place... No. Only Odahviing and Dovahkiin would be in this battle against Dragons.

"Thuri." rumbles Odahviing, "There is something you would wish to know, I believe. There are men who still know how to fight."  
"What? Where?" asks the Dragonborn. While they may have betrayed him, the fact remained that help would be useful. If it were available, he would accept it, but he would not seek it, not train men to fight.

"On the Strunmah, the mountain. In the old temple of the Voice."  
"The Greybeards..." yes. They would do very well indeed. If he could convince them to fight at all, that is.  
"The Dov tried to kill them for a time, but we could not defeat them. When their anger is roused, they are quite the force."

"Let us go." the Dragonborn says simply.

"Us? You think I would be ridden like a beast?" cajoles Odahviing.  
"You once said I'd only feel jealous of the Dov after flying once, and you were right. Now, shall we go, or must I Bend your Will?"

And so they fly eastwards, over a disappointed Riverwood where an old man regrets telling the upstart where to find Dragons.

 **I'm unlikely to update again this week, as I have exams, but please leave any suggestions, as I will be continuing it next week or the week after!**


End file.
